Posts Tagged 'buffett'

Forbes have published their 2009 Rich List. This year’s list sees Bill Gates (or William Gates III) return to pole position as the world’s richest man.

The 2009 list of the world’s top billionaires shows how their fortunes have decreased (in some cases substantially) due to the global recession and the collapse in world stock markets. Warren Buffett’s wealth has fallen by $25bn.

Last year the world had 1,125 billionaires. Today there are 793 and $1.4trillion has disappeared since last year’s list.

Ireland’s richest man is telecommunications businessman Denis O’Brien with a wealth of $2.2bn which places him in 305th position. According to Forbes, Seán Quinn who was Ireland’s richest man in 2008 has lost $4.5bn of his wealth in the last 12 months.

The recent trend of companies cutting costs i.e. downsizing or restructuring, continues with the news this week that Aer Arann is laying off 25% of its workforce and Yahooare planning to cut 10% of its workforce worldwide. The effects of the global recession continue.

The dollar continues to rise in value against the Euro. The current exchange rate is now €1= $1.28
The Euro continues to decline as the ECB is expected to cut interest rates in the next 6 months.

For those studying Economics: Why would interest rates have an effect on the exchange rate?

I will be posting next week about Business on the Web – podcasts, videos and other business websites. Meanwhile, Yahoo have a section on their site called Yahoo Answers. This is where the public can ask questions and share information. Take a look at the Business & Finance page on Yahoo Answers.

As you know, Youtube is not available in school. So, the remainder of this post will be blank if you are on the school network. Here is a good video on Warren Buffett by a Youtube user.

There aren’t many good movies about the stock market or shares. The two most well known ones are Wall Street and Rogue Trader.

Warren Buffett has written an interesting article for today’s New York Times.

In a rare public admission, he has stated that he is personally (not Berkshire Hathaway)buying stocks in the current market and only US stocks. In his article he explains that bad news is an investor’s best friend and why now is the best time to buy shares.

He is following his own rule of investing:

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful”.

After 13 years on top, Bill Gates is no longer the richest man in the world. That honour now belongs to his friend Warren Buffett.

Riding the surging price of Berkshire Hathaway stock, Buffett has seen his fortune swell to an estimated $62 billion, up $10 billion from a year ago.

Gates is now worth $58 billion and is ranked third richest in the world. He is up $2 billion from a year ago. Mexican telecoms mogul Carlos Slim Helú now ranks as the world’s second richest person with a net worth of $60 billion. Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich is in 15th place.

I will be posting more about Warren Buffett soon. Meanwhile here’s a short video from Google Videos on a talk Warren Buffett gave to college students in the US on making the right career choice. Note: Google Videos and Youtube are only visible on this blog outside of school. The NCTE has blocked access to these sites.